This business and the service we provide to teachers nation wide is near and dear to my heart. I love helping teachers do something novel with Moodle. I get great joy out of answering tech questions, finding and fixing bugs, and even changing a password so that a student can get going on their homework again. Without that interaction on a daily basis would be a lot less enjoyable.
That being said, I want to let you know what I (Joseph Thibault) think GlobalClassroom is, where we're going and what it represents in the world of online education/elearning.
In 25 words or less, I think that GlobalClassroom is a "Moodle Community: where schools can host their classrooms securely, teachers can find professional development, and schools, businesses and other organizations can sell and deliver courses."
Let's unpack that a little bit (in more than 25 words) to look at the various pieces that contribute to our site.
1. GlobalClassroom is a community. We run one set of code the supports all of our users at GlobalClassroom.us. So when you report a bug or make a feature request using the "feedback" button (which is connected to our Uservoice account) and we fix or add it: everyone wins! All of our users are stewards of the community because each of you can reach out, give us feedback or report a bug which will benefit us all.
2. Secure hosting for schools/teachers. We offer a basic, free level of service to all teachers world wide. Teachers anywhere can register at GlobalClassroom and create Moodle-based classrooms for free. This is the standard level of Moodle which includes various capabilities and modules (quizzes, assignment dropboxes, glossaries, discussion forums and wikis). Additionally you can upload and display documents, podcasts and even video if you so choose, all in a secure classroom (password protected through the Moodle enrollment key).
For schools that want added security and control we also offer branded eSchools (starting at 10 bucks a month). These provide a way to organize a school's courses and to control access to the eSchool in order to prevent unauthorized users from joining or creating courses. It also has some handy password features and a complete user management dashboard (where you can upload accounts in bulk, and change passwords and roles).
3. Find professional development. When GlobalClassroom was founded in the early 00's, the main focus of the business was providing technology-related professional development online. We've had a really good run in the business of low-cost, facilitated, completely online courses; some of the most popular have been Podcasting, Digital Photography and Video. Today though we offer over 80 titles in such subject areas as ESL, special education, technology and leadership. What I think is unique about GlobalClassroom.us is that teachers can learn about Moodle by taking a class, and then apply those skills directly to their blended or fully online (and free) classroom. It's a great resource and chance for teachers to see something in action, learn a skill and then create resources that benefit student right away. This is the main reason we've introduced #4.
4. A market place of courses. With the open nature of GlobalClassroom.us (allowing anyone to join and being creating resources), paired with the ability to conduct online transactions we're now very happy to offer businesses, schools, teachers and pretty much anyone else with valuable ideas or content that ability to sell courses online.
Whether or not you have an eSchool, users can create content in Moodle and list a price (click for a draft of our agreement with users that opt into selling a course through the GlobalClassroom site). The course will now be available in the community search to prospective users. They can find your course and instantly purchase it either online or by contacting our student services. GlobalClassroom does take a fee in order to support the hosting, support and programming costs of managing a 100,000+ user network (10% of the total course price listed), but we think that's fair for providing a turn key course marketplace (click here for more of the Draft terms).
In the next few months and years we'll be upgrading our site to the specifications that you want most, ensuring that we're using the most updated Moodle version available, adding the popular modules users want and creating more efficient and easy ways to get started building a classroom.
We're very happy that you're here. And we're grateful for the opportunity to serve educators.
Sincerely and on behalf of the staff,
Joseph Thibault
Support
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